Girls’ Squash Wins NEPSAC Title, Thrives at Nationals

All hail the champs! Our Girls’ Varsity Squash team went into the New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) tournament with plenty of confidence—and came away with the trophy.

Behind first-place finishes from Joy Okonye ’23, Stephany Silva ’26, and Isabella Mavuli ’25, the team won the program’s first title since 2013. “It felt incredible to win the championship, and it was a great experience for the team,” said Head Coach Amy Omaña ’86, P ’19, ’20. “In some cases, you are re-competing against girls you played against during the season. But because it is all of New England, you get schools you have never seen before, too—like Dexter Southfield School and Newton Country Day School from Massachusetts—so you do not know how strong they are. Every win is exhilarating!”

Bella was certainly exhilarated by her victory in the tournament. “The last point in my third set was absolutely surreal. No feeling comes close to hearing my team and coach behind me after I won,” she said. “Being with such an incredible group of people made me cherish every minute of the trip. Mrs. Omaña has become more than a coach to me; she has been a second mom. It was all so exciting!”

The excitement was contagious. Capping off a total team effort at the NEPSAC tournament, the Saints also received major contributions from Phoebe Booth ’24, Lauren Bellucci ’23, and Lily LaVigne ’23, who finished second, third, and fifth respectively in their flights.

After basking in their conference win for a few days, the girls traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the 2023 U.S. High School Squash Championships, which Amy described as “the Super Bowl of high school squash.” And the team came through again, finishing in the top half of its bracket while winning two of four matches—the perfect culmination of a tremendous season.

“This group of girls is fantastic. I have three seniors who all learned to play squash here, so that was exciting,” Amy shared. “And freshman Steph Silva is a player from an urban squash program who added tremendously to the team. She is very talented and such a great kid. Her being here really pushed our top players.” Stephany showed off that talent at Nationals by going undefeated in her games.

Congratulations to all the girls and Coach Omaña for bringing the NEPSAC title back to the hilltop!